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If you fish for tarpon, or fish in Boca Grande Pass, or like to keep up with local news, or just enjoy watching long, painful fights, you’re probably aware of what’s been going on in the Pass this year. If not, I’ll sum up: The hook-on-top Boca Grande Pass jig was outlawed last year, and former jig fishermen have been struggling a bit to come up with an alternative artificial that comes anywhere close to being as successful at hooking fish. They’re doing this under the watchful eyes of Save the Tarpon, the locally based group that pushed hard last year to get the jig banned.

There are a lot of anglers who are less than happy with this situation, since they don’t see the harm the old jig was causing. We’ve written about it before, but in a nutshell, it was snagging fish. You can believe it or not believe it, but that’s the truth. Not every fish was snagged, but the percentage was high. I’d venture to say as high as 80 percent, depending on the fishing method. Moot point — it’s gone. In its absence, though, some very interesting new rigs have surfaced.

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